Celena Hollis was working as a uniformed, off-duty officer at a jazz concert in City Park this summer when she was killed. (handout photo, Denver Police Department)

Even if it’s all true, the defense taking shape for a man accused of killing a Denver police officer illustrates just how senseless the shooting was.

Rollin Oliver, accused of killing Denver Police officer Celena Hollis, was running from a dozen members of the Crips street gang when he spun around and shot four times into a crowd gathered to see a concert in a Denver park, according to statements made Thursday during a court proceeding for Oliver. Police contend one of the bullets hit Hollis.

Public defender William Drexler said his client was not instigating trouble. He was trying to get away from it.

The running from trouble part makes sense — even though it was refuted by a witness at a hearing Thursday — but the gun-firing part does not. Firing a gun into a crowd is likely to make you more of a trouble magnet than repellant. And as we saw, it could have tragic consequences.

[/media-credit] Chad Jukes steadies himself along the ascent of the Grand Teton. Jukes lost his right leg below the knee as a result of injuries he sustained in an IED attack in Iraq. (Leah Hogsten, The Salt Lake Tribune)

Change comes hard in the world of education, especially when it comes to educator accountability measures.

That was on display in Chicago this week, where teachers went on strike over several issues including an evaluation process that would include student test scores as a component of their performance reviews.

And it also was an issue in Los Angeles this week where administrators — yes, principals — finally agreed to a new evaluation system that includes student achievement as one component of an administrator evaluation.

Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy called the agreement a “remarkable breakthrough.” It should be noted that L.A. teachers have yet to come around on the issue.

In the continuing debate over whether it’s fair to judge educators by how their students perform, administrators are often the forgotten link. Yet, a great principal sets the tone for a school, manages staff and ensures everyone is striving toward the same goals. Part of a principal’s responsibility is to make sure quality teaching is taking place in his or her school.

To that end, principals have got to have some skin in the game.

In Colorado, they will once Senate Bill 191 is fully enacted. That’s because growth in student achievement will be a component not only in teacher evaluations, but in principal evaluations as well.

Exactly one week ago in a crowded convention hall in Charlotte, I heard from our President a plan to move Denver and our economy forward.

Now I know it wasn’t just a plan for Denver, but you could have fooled me.

I heard our nation’s leader offer an honest plan that meets our residents where they are – needing good jobs, better schools and more health care – with the tools necessary to live vibrant lives and find success.

I heard a plan that boldly moves to restore the middle-class and reshapes our economy to meet the demands of the 21st century.Read more…

Earlier this month, the Venice Film Festival awarded a special jury prize to “Paradise: Faith,” a movie The New York Times described as “about a self-flagellating Roman Catholic woman married to a paraplegic Muslim.” In one scene, the woman masturbates with a crucifix.

Not surprisingly, the movie offended a number of Catholics, and some complained.

So did you hear of U.S. diplomats issuing a statement condemning “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Catholics”?

Of course not. And thank goodness you didn’t. That’s not their role.

As we all know, however, when someone in California made a movie offending Muslims the U.S. embassy in Cairo issued a statement saying it “condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.”

The last part of that statement is not true. U.S. diplomats do not condemn attempts to offend believers of religions other than Islam. They condemn attempts to persecute believers for their faith and to suppress religious freedom, which is a far different thing. Indeed, the State Department publishes an excellent report every year on the state of international religious freedom, condemning the many ways in which it is violated.

In free societies such as Italy and the United States, some people are going to deliberately set about to offend the religious sensibilities of others. That is their right, and they exercise it all the time. And the reaction of U.S. diplomats should be to do … nothing.

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

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